Wire-looping device



Jan. 22, 1963 C. LENZ ET Al.

WIRE-LOOPING DEVICE Filed June 30. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2.

FIG.

ATTORNEY an- 22, 1 V c. LENZ ETAL 3,074,442

WIRE-LOOPING DEVICE Filed June 30, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 74 16 I 3'7 3 i40 I INV EN TORS gmw,

ATTORNEY 22, 1963 c. LENZ ETA]. 3,074,442

WIRE-LOOP'ING DEVICE Filed June 30, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. l3. FIG.IO.

INVENTORS ATTORNEY iinited States 3,074,442 WRE-LOOPING DEVlCE Carllienz, Wayne, and Richard Hasell, Denville, Ni, assignors toWestinghouse Electric Corporation, East iiittsburgh, Pa, a corporationof Pennsylvania Filed June 30, 1959, fier. No. 823,994 4 Claims. (Cl.14071.6)

The present invention relates to apparatus for fabricating filamentmounts for incandescent lamps and the like and, more particularly, to adevice for looping a support wire about the mounted filament.

Heretofore, a support wire has been looped about the mounted filament ofan incandescent lamp mount by apparatus of the type shown in US. PatentNo. 1,816,683, issued July 28, 1931 to W. Ledig et al. Such apparatusutilizes a pinion gear freely rotatable by a toothed segment upon alooping pin in which the mounted filament is positioned by means of aradial slot. The support wire is disposed along the underside of thepinion gear and tangentially to the looping pin with its free endpressed into engagement with a ratchet tooth groove in the lower face ofthe pinion gear by a leaf-spring. Rotation of the pinion gear wraps thefree end of the support wire about the looping pin as a mandrel and intoa loop thereabout. The looping pin is removed from the formed loopthereby permitting the now supported filament to index out of the radialslot provided in the pinion gear.

The above-described loop forming device is expensive and complicated instructure. If the free end of the support wire is presented to the wirelooping device in the bent condition occasionally the leaf-spring failsto secure such free end in the ratchet toothed groove and the wirelooping device fails to form the loops about the looping pin.Occasionally, the support wire becomes entanged in the engaging teeth ofthe pinion gear and the gear segment thereby jamming the mechanism andbreaking the nearly completed filament mount. In addition, the formedloops were more elliptical than circular in shape and non-uniformdimensionally thus effecting the finally secured position of the mountedfilament.

Because of these defects an improved wire-looping device of the typeshown in US. Patent No. 1,907,532, issued May 9, 1933 to J. Flaws, Jr.and in US. Patent No. 2,085,578, issued February 18, 1936 to the samepatentee was substituted for the above-described device and usedprimarily to loop tie Wires around the filament-supporting lead wires.This conventional device comprises curling dies, each having a grooveextending along a sloping face of the die and along the semi-circularterminal-notch portion of the sloping face. The portion of the groovealong the sloping face is moved into engagement with the prepositionedend of the tie wire and such end is forced along the sloping face intothe semi-circular notch portion where the end of the tie wire is formedinto a circular eyelet around the lead wire.

If, for example, the tie wire is too stiff or the groove in the notchportion of the curling die is not smooth, the support wire is oftenbuckled back and deformed. Due to the abrasive action of the sharp edgeon the end of the tie wires against the grooves in the sloping faces andin the notches in the curling dies, such dies have relatively shortlife. In order to prolong the life of such curling dies, they arehardened to such an extent that the curling dies become brittle andbreak easily. Further to assure the satisfactory operation of suchcurling dies, they are made with close tolerances, are provided withhighly polished contact surfaces and hence are very expensive. Yetanother disadvantages is the fact that the angle at which the end of thetie wire is presented to the curling die is critical and the slightestdeviation of such end from this critical angle results in a poorlyformed loop.

3,674,442 Patented Jan. 22, 1963 It is accordingly a general object ofthe present invention to avoid and overcome the foregoing and otherdifficulties of and objections to the prior-art loop-forming devices bythe provision of an improved device for looping a support wire of a lampmount about the mounted filament thereof to insure the retention of themounted filament in a predetermined position.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedwire-looping device which firmly secures the support wire which is to belooped about the mounted filament thereby insuring that such free end ofthe support wire is properly positioned for the wire-looping operationand guaranteeing positively that a loop will be formed on everyincandescent lamp mount.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of animproved wire-looping device which intermittently hammers and pulls thesupport wire around the protective filament anvil by successive impactsrather than forcing the support wire along a groove during the course ofthe loop-forming operation thereby reducing the abrasive wear on theimproved wire-looping device, prolong ing its life and reducing the costof maintenance of such device.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of animproved Wire-loping device which does not deform the support wire beingwrapped around the mounted filament.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of animproved wire-looping device which does not require close tolerances inits manufacture and hence is relatively inexpensive to fabricate andwhich provides efiicient operation.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of animproved Wire-looping device in which the free end of the support wirecannot become jammed, thereby eliminating stoppages of the device andbreakage of a nearly completed filament mount.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of animproved wire-looping device which consistently forms circular loops ofuniform diameter thereby uniformly securing the mounted filaments in thesame position.

The aforesaid objects of the present invention and other objects whichwill become apparent as the description thereof proceeds are achieved byproviding an improved Wire-looping device having support-wire grippingmembers which secure the support wire (which is to be looped about themounted filament) in a braced and relatively predetermined position, amovable member reeiprocable toward and away from the supported supportwire and having mounted thereon an anvil for protecting the mountedfilament and operable as a mandrel for the support wire during theloop-forming operation, and bending means for receiving the free end ofthe support wire between serrations on its periphery, the bending memberbeing rotatable to successively impact the support wire against suchanvil thereby bending the support wire around the anvil to form a looparound the mounted filament.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference should behad to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of referenceindicate similar parts throughout the several views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a finished vertical-filament type mountfor an incandescent lamp, the support wire having been looped about themounted filament by the wire-looping device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal-sectional view of the wire-looping device of thepresent invention taken along the line II-I l of FIG. 3 in the directionof the arrows and showing the position of such wire-looping device atthe end of the wire-looping operation and showing the wire-loopingdevice in the up position.

FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view of the wire-looping device shown inFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal-sectional view along the line IVIV ofFIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows of the frame portions of thewire-looping device and showing also an elevating slide and an operatingslide for such wire-looping device.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical-sectional view taken along the line V-Vof FIG. 6 in the direction of the arrows and showing the position of thesupport-wire gripping jaws, filament-positioning slide and loop-formingmechanism at the start of the loop-forming operation, after a filamentmount has indexed into the loop-forming station.

FIG. 6 is a horizontal-sectional View along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5 inthe direction of the arrows.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the support-wire grippingjaws in the closed position and the filament-positioning slide in its inposition,

FIG. 8 is a vertical-sectional view along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the supportwire gripping jawsand filament-positioning slide taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. 8 inthe direction of the arrows.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 showingthe movement of the loop-forming mechanism and particularly the anvilfrom the starting or dotted-line position to the solid-line positionwhere the free end of the gripped support wire has been aligned by aguide face provided on such loop-forming mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 indicating the movement of suchanvil from the dotted-line position shown therein (which dotted-lineposition corresponds to the solid-line position of FIG. 10) to thesolid-line position where the guided free end of the support wire hasbecome engaged in a tooth of a ratchet wheel and where the anvil hasengaged the filament-positioning slide preparatory for their continuedmovement together to the right.

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIGS. 10 and 11 and showing the furthermovement of the anvil and filamentpositioning slide to the right duringwhich movement the free end of the support wire is intermittentlyengaged by successive teeth of the ratchet wheel to bend the supportwire around the anvil as a mandrel.

FIG. 13 is a vertical-sectional view along the line XIII-XIII of FIG. 12in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIGS. 10 through 12 showing the finalmovement of the loop-forming mechanism to the right to complete theclosed loop in the end of the support wire around the mounted filamentand to move the encircled portion of the mounted filament back intoalignment with the longitudinal axis of the lamp mount.

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIGS. 10 through 12 and FIG. 14 and showingthe support-wire gripping jaws in the open and up position(corresponding 7 to the dotted-line position shown in FIG. 5) and thefilamentpositioning slide in the retracted and up position preparatoryfor the movement of the wire-looping device to the down or solid-lineposition shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 16 is a perspective View of the anvil and associated guide means.

With the specific reference to the form of the present inventionillustrated in the drawings, and referring particularly to FIG. 1, avertical-filament type mount for an incandescent lamp (not shown) isindicated generally by the reference numeral Iii. This vertical-filamenttype mount It? comprises a stem 11 having a filament 12 mounted on thelongitudinal axis of the mount 10 between long lead wire 14 and a shortlead wire 16. Tie wires 18 extend from an arbor button 20 and arewrapped around the lead wires 14 and 16 to retain the mounted filament'12 in the above-mentioned longitudinal axial alignment. From this arborbutton 20 a support wire 22 extends substantially parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the mount 10 and is bent transversely to such axiswith the free end of such support wire 22 being looped about themid-portion of the mounted filament 12 to retain said mid-portiondisposed along the longitudinal axis of the mount 10. The formation ofthe loop on the rec end of the support wire 22 is accomplished by theimproved Wire-looping device of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 2through 16.

This improved wire-looping device of the present invention is located ata wire-looping station, FIGS. 2 and 3, of a filament-mounting machine(not shown) but of the type disclosed in US. Patent No. 1,907,532,issued May 9, 1933 to J. Flaws, Jr. As indicated in FIG. 3 theincompleted vertical-filament type mount 10 is secured intubulation-gripping jaws 24 and arbor-gripping jaws 236 of a head of thefilament-mounting machine (not shown). When the incompletedvertical-filament type mount III is indexed into the'support-wirelooping station, the improved wire-looping device of the presentinvention is in the down position, shown in FIG. 5, to permit theunobstructed entry of such filament mount 10 into the support-wirelooping station This support-wire looping device of the presentinvention comprises essentially a pair of support-wire gripping jaws 28pivoted at Sit? on the right-hand portion on a body 32, as viewed inFIGS. 6 and 7, and utilized to secure the support wire 22 (FIGS. 10-14)in a predetermined position during the loop-forming operation; afilament-positioning slide 33 horizontally reciprocable in a primaryslide 34 beneath the support-wire gripping jaws, as viewed in FIGS. 5, 6and 7, to position the mid-portion of the mounted filament 12 (FIGS.1012) in a predetermined location during the loop forming operation; and'a loopforming mechanism 36 horizontally reciprocable on the left-handportions of the body 32, as viewed in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, and operable toform a loop in the free end 37 of the support wire 22 about suchmid-portion of the mounted filament 12 (FIG. 15).

After the vertical-filament type mount 10 has been indexed into theloop-forming station, the loop-forming device of the present inventionis elevated a distance d from the down or solid-line position, shown inFIG. 5, to the up or dotted-line position shown therein and as shown inFIG. 3, by a vertical-reciprocating mechanism. During this upwardmovement of the support-wire looping device, a lower bend'38 (FIG. 5) inthe support wire 22 engages a beveled lip or guide portion 40 (FIGS. 5and 6) provided in the top surface of the body 32 beneath the now-opensupport-wire gripping jaws 23 and such lower bend 38 in the support wire22 rides down such guide portion iii into a registering positioning slot42 provided in the body 32, thus positioning the free end 37 of thesupport wire 22 substantially tangent to the mounted filament 12, asshown in FIG. 6.

Vertical-Reciprocating Mechanism In order to permit thevertical-reciprocating movement of the wire-looping device a distance d(FIG. 5) between the down or solid-line position shown therein, and theup or dotted-line position shown in FIG. 5, the body 32 is carried by anelevating slide 44- (FIGS. 3 and 4), which is vertically reciprocable inthe frame portions 46 of the wire-looping device. A lower portion 48(FIG. 3) of the elevating slide 44 extends through a suitable aperture50 in the frame 52 of the filament-mounting machine (not shown) andsuchlower portion 48 is connected by conventional linkage to anelevating cam on the main cam shaft of such filament-mounting machine.

After the Wire-looping device has been elevated to the up position ordotted-line position shown in FIG. 5,

12 (FIG. 8) the open support wire gripping jaws 28 (FIG. 6) are closedabout the positioned support wire 22 (FIG. 7) and simultaneouslytherewith the filament-positioning plate 33 is moved by an operatingmechanism to the left a distance d (FIG. 7) from the dotted-lineposition to the solid-line position thereby positioning the mid-portionof the mounted filament 12 in a predetermined location as shown in FIGS.7 and 8, preparatory for the loop-forming operation.

Operating Mechanism This operating mechanism has a plate cam 54 (FIG. 3)having a cam slot 55 which is engageable by a cam roller 56 on theright-hand end of the primary slide 34 in which the filament-positioningor secondary slide 33 is reciprocable. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, itwill be noted that the filament-positioning plate 33 is biased by aspring 57 to move to the left with the primary slide 34, but that a slot59 in such filament-positioning slide 33 permits movement of the slide33 to the right against the action of the spring 57. Such plate cam 54is mounted by means of a cross-bar 58 on an operating slide 60,juxtaposed adjacent the elevating slide 44 and vertically reciprocablein the frame portions 46 of the wire-looping device. The means utilizedto cause vertical-reciprocating movement of the operating slide 60 andthe plate cam 54 carried thereby comprises a connecting rod 62 extendingfrom the lower portions of the operating slide 60 through the aperture50 in the frame 52 and connected in the same manner as theabove-mentioned elevating slide 44 by conventional linkage to anoperating cam on the main cam shaft of the filament-mounting machine(not shown).

It will be understood from a consideration of FIG. 3

that 'the above-described operating mechanism is not moved duringoperation of the vertical-reciprocating mechanism to cause thewire-looping device to move a distance d (FIG. 5) from the down orsolid-line position, shown in FIG. 5 to the up or dotted-line position,shown in such figure, because during such vertical movement of thereciprocating mechanism, the cam roller the vertical portion of the slot55 from dotted position 56a to dotted line 5611.

When the wire-looping device is in the up or dottedline position (FIG.5) the operating mechanism is then actuated by the operating cam (notshown) to cause the plate cam 54 to move upwardly to cause relativemovement between the cam slot 55 in the plate cam 54 and the nowstationary cam roller 56 (at dotted-line position 56b). The initialupward movement of the plate cam 54 causes the now stationary cam roller56 to move from its position 56b at the extreme end of the verticalportion of the cam slot 55 through dotted-line position 56a. Thecontinued upward movement of the plate cam 54 causes the cam roller 56to move along an inclined portion 55a of the cam slot 55 to dotted-lineposition 560, during which movement a gate 64 (pivoted at 66 and biasedby a spring 68 against opposite side walls of the cam slot 55) retainssuch roller 56 against this inclined portion 55a of the cam slot 55.

This relative movement of the cam roller 56 along the inclined portion55a, as viewed in FIG, 3, causes the primary slide 34 and thefilament-positioning slide 33 carried thereby to move to the left (dueto the action of the spring 57, FIGS. 5, 8 and 13) from the positionshown in FIG. 6, to the position shown in FIG. 7. During such movementof the filament-positioning slide 33, the cam roller 72 carried on theright-hand end of each of the pivoted support-wire gripping jaws 28, asviewed in FIG. 6 (and biased by a spring 74 to ride along a cam surface76 provided in a cam plate 78 carried by the primary slide 34) ridesalong such cam surface 76 from the position shown in FIG. 6 to theposition shown in FIG. 7, thereby causing inward pivotable movement ofeach of the support-wire gripping jaws 28 toward each other to securethe positioned support wire 22 therebetween. It will be understood froma consideration of FIG. 9 that the operating portion of the left-handsupport-wire gripping jaw 28 is fiat and insertable between cooperatingflanges on the right-hand support-wire gripping jaw 28, the operatingportions of which flanges are provided with V-shaped grooves so thatupon closure of the support-wire gripping jaws 28 the support wire 22 isfirmly secured between the jaws in the desired position as determined bythe positioning slot 42. It will be further understood that thesupport-wire gripping jaws 28 are closed about the support wire 22before the fila ment-positioning slide 33 has completed its movement tothe left to the position shown in FIG. 7.

After the support-wire gripping jaws 23 have closed, a positioning slot70in the left-hand or forward face of such filament-positioning slide 33engages a mid-portion of the mounted filament 12 and moves suchmid-portion off the longitudinal axis of the filament mount 10 from theposition shown in FIG. 6 to the wire-looping position, shown in FIGS. 7and 8. The mounted filament 12 is moved to this position to prevent thefree end 37 of the support wire 22 from becoming caught in the mountedfilament 12 during the looping operation.

Thereafter during the continued upward movement of the plate cam 54, thecam roller 56 again remains in fixed position Within another verticalportion of slot 55 which effectively is equivalent to such cam roller 56moving from the dotted-line position 56c through gate 64 to thesolid-line position shown in FIG. 3, during which time period theloop-forming mechanism 36 is operable, as now explained, to form a loopin the free end 37 of the support wire 22 about the positioned filament12.

Loop-Forming Mechanism As shown particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3, theloopforming mechanism 36 has an anvil 78 (FIG. 16) mounted on an anvilbracket 81 aflixed to an operating slide which is horizontallyreciprocable in the body 32 and retained therein by retaining plates 79.This anvil 78 is utilized to protect the positioned mid-portion of themounted filament 12 and to act as a mandrel around which a loop isformed in the free end 37 of the support Wire 22. The means utilized toengage the free end 37 of the support wire 22 (FIG. 11) and to drive itaround the anvil 78 by the application of intermittent blows or impactswhile such free end 37 is positioned against the anvil 73, comprises aratchet wheel 82 pivoted at 84 on the operating slide 89 and having itsnearest tooth spaced a predetermined distance from the anvil 78. Thispredetermined distance is slightly greater, about .0001", than thediameter of the support wire 22, thereby reducing the wear of theratchet wheel 82 against the refractory metal support wire 22.

In order to horizontally reciprocate the operating slide 80 in the body32, such operating slide 80 carries a cam roller 56 (similar to thehereinbefore described cam roller 56) which cam roller 56 is engageablein a cam slot 55" in a plate cam 54 afiixed to the cross bar 58.

It will be appreciated from a consideration of FIG. 3 that thedotted-line positions of the cam roller 56', namely positions 56%, 56aand 56'0 serve to indicate the positions of the cam roller 56 within thecam slot 55 when the hereinbefore mentioned cam roller 56 is in thecorresponding positions within the cam slot 55- during movement of thecam plate 5-4, namely positions 56b, 56a and 560.

So that the movement of the operating slide 89 (from left to right andmore particularly the anvil 78 from the starting or dotted-line position78d shown in FIG. 10 to the solid-line position 7811 shown in FIGS. 14and 15) may be utilized to cause clockwise rotation of the ratchet Wheel82, as viewed in FIG. 2, to form the loop in the free end 37 of thesupport Wire 22 about the anvil 78 (as hereinafter related in detail), agear 36 (FIG. 3) affixed to the pivot 84 is driven by a gear segment 38(pivoted at 90) on the operating slide 83 and such gear segment 88 isconnected by a link 92 to a fixed pivot 94 on one of the retainingplates 79.

It will be understood from a consideration of FIGS. 2 and 3, that as theoperating slide 89 and the pivot 91 for the gear segment 38 move slowlyfrom left to right (which gear segment 88 it will be remembered isrestrained by the fixed pivot 94) such movement causes counterclockwiserotation of the gear segment 88. This counterclockwise rotation of thegear segment 88 causes resultant relatively fast clockwise rotation ofthe gear 86 and the ratchet wheel 82 to form the loop in the free end 37of the support wire 22.

Operation of Loop-Forming Mechanism After the mid-portion of the mountedfilament 12 has been moved by the filament-positioning slide 34 to theposition shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, continued upward movement of the platecams 54 and 54 causes the cam rollers 56 and 56' to move respectively tothe dotted-line positions 56d and 56'd, as shown in FIG. 3, where thecam roller 56 engages an inclined portion 55a in the cam slot 55'. Thisinclined portion 55a is operable to continuously move the loop-formingmechanism 36, and more particularly the anvil 78, from the starting ordottedline position 78d, shown in FIG. 10, to the final or solidlineposition 78h, shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.

As the anvil is moved a distance d (FIG. 10) from the starting ordotted-line position 78d therein to the solid-line position 782 shown insuch figure, the free end 37 of the positioned support wire 22 engages aguide 96 mounted on the anvil bracket 31 adjacent the anvil 73. Thecontinued movement of the anvil 78 (a distance d from the dotted-lineposition 7Se shown in H6. 11, to the solid iine position 78 of suchfigure) causes the free end 37 of the support wire 22 to pass betweenthe guide 96 and the anvil 78 and to become engaged in a tooth of aratchet wheel 32, which ratchet wheel 82 it will be remembered isrotating in clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 11, at a relativelyfast rate. During the continued movement of the anvil 78a distance d(FIG. 12) from the dotted line position 781 (FIG. 12) to the solid-lineposition 73g, successive teeth of the ratchet wheel 32 intermittentlystrike or impact the support wire 22 at the point of contact P againstthe anvil 78 and drive and pull such free end 37 around the 'anvil 78 toform substantially one-halt loop at the stage of the loop-formingoperation shown in FIG. 12.

It will be appreciated from a consideration of FIGS.

v2 and 13, that when the anvil 73 has reached the position 78g (thesolid-line position shown in FIG. 12) the anvil bracket 31 engages thefilament-positioning slide 33. Thereafter, during the remainder of themovement of such anvil '78 to the righta distance d (FIG. 14) such anvil7S and the filament-positioning slide 33, due to compression of spring57, move together 7 to the solid-line position, shown in EEG. 14, wherethe midportion of the filament i2 is once again coincidental with thelongitudinal axis of the filament mount lit and the anvil 78 has assumedthe solid-line position 7811. During this movement through the distanced the loop is completed about the anvil 78 and the mounted filament 12by further successive intermittent blows or impacts by successive teethof the ratchet wheel $2 on the support wire 22 at the point of impact Pagainst the anvil 78.

.At the end of the loop-forming operation (FIG. 3) the cam rollers 56and 56' are disposed (FIG. 3) near the bottoms of the cam slots 55 and55' respectively.

In order to open the support-wire gripping jaws 28 before the loweringof the anvil 78 out of the now-formed loop in the support wire 22 andthe still later retraction of the loop-forming mechanism 36, theoperating mechtanism .for the support-wire gripping jaws 28 causes low-,ering of the plate cams 5d and54i with resultant relative upwardmovement of thecam rollers 55 and 55 in the cam slots 55 and 55'.Duringsuehirelative upward movement, the cam roller 56 is-directedby thegate 64 along the inclined portion 55b of the cam slot 55 (fromdottedline position 56m, FIG. 3, to dotted-line position 56);) therebyeffectively causing the cam rollers 72 on the jaws 28 to move from theposition shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 6 with resultantopening of the jaws 2 8 and simultaneous retraction of thefilamentpositioning slide 33. 7

During this movement of the cam roller 56 from the dotted-line position56m to the dotted-line position 56n, the roller 56' guided by the gate64 moves relatively upward in the cam slot 55' to the position 56'". V

Thereafter simultaneously with the movement of the cam roller 5'6 fromthe dotted-line position 56'n (FIG. 3) to the dotted-line position 56p,the vertical-reciprocating mechanism for the wire-looping device causeslowering of such wire-looping device a distance d from the up ordotted-line position shown in FIG 5, to the solid-line position shown insuch figure, thereby retracting the anvil '73 from the formed loop inthe support wire 22 preparatory for movement of the cam roller 56 fromthe dotted-line position '56p along an inclined portion 55'b of the camslot 55 to the dotted-line position 5671, during which movement theloop-formingmechanism '36 is retracted to the left. i

After the finished vertical-filament type mount it has indexed out ofthe loop-forming station, a new filament mount it) indexes thereinto andthe above-described loopforming cycle is repeated. 7

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the obiects ofthe present invention have been achieved by the provision of an improvedsupport-wire looping device which firmly secures the support wire whichis to be looped about the mounted filament thereby insuring that thefree end of the support wire is properly positioned for the wire-loopingoperation and positively guaranteeing that a loop will be formed onevery. verticalfilamcnt type mount. The improved wire-looping deviceintermittently hammers and pulls the support wire around the protectiveanvil thereby reducing abrasive wear in such improved wire-loopingdevice, prolonging its life and reducing the cost of maintenance of suchdevice. In addition, the improved wire-looping device does not deformthe support wire being wrapped around the mounted filament. It does notrequire close tolerances in its manufacture and hence is relativelyinexpensive to fabricate in addition, the improved wire-looping evice isefiicient in operation, forming circular loops of uniform diameter aboutthe mounted filament to thereby uniformly secure the mounted filamentsin the same axial position. Such device advantageously prevent jammingof the free end of the support wire in the device thereby eliminatingwork stoppages and attendant breakage of the nearly completed filamentmounts.

While in accordance with the patent statutes one best known embodimentof the present invention has been illustrated and described in detail,it is to be particularly understood that the invention is not limitedthereto or thereby.

We claim: 7

1. Apparatus for looping a support wire about a lamp filament, saidappartus comprising:

a. support wire securing means operable to secure an intermediateportion of said support wire and position adjacent to said filament thefree end portion of said support wire which is to be looped about saidfilament;

b. anvil means operable to protect said filament from deformation andalso to serve as a mandrel during the formation of said support wireinto a loop about said filament;

c. filament moving means for moving from its normal position, and towardsaid anvil means through a predetermined distance, that portion of saidfilament intended to be encircled by the loop of said support wire;

d. said anvil means operable to move a predetermined distance towardsaid filament to a position proximate to said support wire free endportion;

e. bending means adjacent to and movable with said anvil means andoperable to engage said support wire free end portion to drive and pullsame about said anvil means;

1. said bending means and said anvil means then operable to moveadjacent to said filament and to move said filament back to its normalposition, and said bending means operable to drive and pull successiveportions of said support wire free end portion further about said anvilmeans to completely loop said support wire about said filament;

g. said support wire securing means then operable to release saidsupport wire, and said bending means and said anvil means then operableto move away from said filament and the formed loop of said supportwire; and

h. actuating means for actuating said support wire securing means, saidanvil means, said filament moving means, and said bending means in theforegoing work sequence.

2. The apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein said support wiregripping means comprises a pair of gripping jaws operable to grip andretain said support wire.

3. The apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein said filament movingmeans comprises a filament-positioning plate movable toward and intocontact with said filament, and said filment-positioning plate is springbiased into contact wtih said filament; a supporting bracket is movabletoward said filament by said actuating means and carries said anvilmeans, and movement of said bracket toward said filament causes saidbracket to contact said filament-positioning plate to move same againstits spring bias to permit said filament to return to its normalposition.

4. The apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein said bending meanscomprises a ratchet wheel rotatable by said actuating means, and saidratchet wheel has a series of spaced teeth operable to impact againstsaid suppont wire when said ratchet wheel is rotated to drive and pullsaid support wire about said anvil means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS851,152 Baldwin Apr. 23, 1907 2,683,473 Flaws et al. July 13, 19542,811,988 Hamilton Nov. 5, 1957 2,838,075 Terry et a1. June 10, 1958FOREIGN PATENTS 630,817 France Aug. 7, 1928 472,647 Great Britain Sept.27, 1937

1. APPARATUS FOR LOOPING A SUPPORT WIRE ABOUT A LAMP FILAMENT, SAIDAPPARTUS COMPRISING: A. SUPPORT WIRE SECURING MEANS OPERABLE TO SECUREAN INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID SUPPORT WIRE AND POSITION ADJACENT TOSAID FILAMENT THE FREE END PORTION OF SAID SUPPORT WIRE WHICH IS TO BELOOPED ABOUT SAID FILAMENT; B. ANVIL MEANS OPERABLE TO PROTECT SAIDFILAMENT FROM DEFORMATION AND ALSO TO SERVE AS A MANDREL DURING THEFORMATION OF SAID SUPPORT WIRE INTO A LOOP ABOUT SAID FILAMENT; C.FILAMENT MOVING MEANS FOR MOVING FROM ITS NORMAL POSITION, AND TOWARDSAID ANVIL MEANS THROUGH A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE, THE PORTION OF SAIDFILAMENT INTENDED TO BE ENCIRCLED BY THE LOOP OF SAID SUPPORT WIRE; D.SAID ANVIL MEANS OPERABLE TO MOVE A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE TOWARD SAIDFILAMENT TO A POSITION PROXIMATE TO SAID SUPPORT WIRE FREE END PORTION;E. BENDING MEANS ADJACENT TO AND MOVABLE WITH SAID ANVIL MEANS ANDOPERABLE TO ENGAGE SAID SUPPORT WIRE FREE END PORTION TO DRIVE AND PULLSAME ABOUT SAID ANVIL MEANS;